Window-screen



(No Model.)

f 2 Sheets-.Sheet 1. W'. SCOTT.

. WINDOW SCREEN.

' Patented May 5, 1896.

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n n n n n lv n n u n n n n ANDREW E.GR/ \HAM.PHOT0 UMQWASNINGTDN D C (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. SCOTT. WINDOW SCREEN. No. 559,499. 'Patented May 5, 1896.

UNTTED STATES PATENT @union VILLIAM SCOTT, OF LEAVENVORTH, KANSAS.

wiNDow-SCREEN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 559,499, dated May 5, 1896. ippiimion ned october 14,1895. serai No. 565,630. (No man.)

efficient means for mounting, guiding, and` fastening the screen whereby it is adapted for use in connection with either car or dwelly inghouse windows.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in the following description, and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of a screen constructed in accordance with my invention, the same being shown in connection with a frame adapted to be arranged in the usual window-frame. Fig. 2 is a vertical central section of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail section of a supporting-bracket and the contiguous extremities of the roller and strip, said section being taken in a plane parallel with the aXis of the roller. Fig. 4 is a detail view showing a slightly-modiiied form of means for securing the screen in its extended position. Fig. 5 isa detail horizontal section of one side of the frame and the contiguous portion of the screen to show the relative positions of the guiding-strips and the elastic packing-strip. Fig. 6 is a detail View in perspective of one end of the supportingstrip and the contiguous bracket attached thereto. Fig. 7 is a detail view of a section of a rabbeted or channeled stripto serve as a guide for the edge of a screen when the latter is mounted upon the face of a frame. Fig. 8 is a plan view of a portion of the screen to show the detail construction thereof, the mesh being shown enlarged. Fig. 9 is a detail end view of the roller and contiguous bracket.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the ii gures of the drawings.

outer guide-strips 3, which are separated at their contiguous edges, the outer guide-strips carrying "compressible packing-strips 4L, preferably of rubber or its equivalent, which extend inward toward the outer edges of the inner guide-strips to bear against the surface of the screen 5, which operates at its side edges between the guide-strips.

y The screen is rolled uponaspring-actuated roller 6, mounted at its terminals in brackets 7 which depend from the extremities olf the supporting-strip S, and this supporting-strip, which is thus constructed to carry the screen mechanism, is adapted to be detachably secured to the top of the frame.

Various forms of devices may be employed for detachably securing the supporting-strip to the frame; but in the construction illustrated said strip is provided in its outer and inner edges with notches for the reception of the shanks of the turn-buttons or clips 9, the lateral arms l0 of said turn-buttons or clips being adapted, after the strip has been arranged in its operative position, to be turned to engage the under surface thereof.

The brackets 7, which depend from the eX- tremities of the supporting-strip in contact with the inner surfaces of the sides of the frames, are in construction similar Vto the brackets employed in supporting curtain-rollers, in that they are provided, respectively, with a round bearing for the fixed trunnion at one end of the springactuated roll and a seat 1l for the reception of the spring-arbor l2, which forms the trunnion at the other end of the roller.

It is desirable in connection with screens to employ a spring-roller in which the spring may be adjusted to the desired tension previous to mounting in the brackets and is held at that desired tension by such means as pawls engaging a ratchet at the end of the roll, as inthe construction of shade-rollers; but it is also desirable in connection with window-screens to provide against the engagement of said pawls with the ratchets after the screen has been arranged in the window, whereby the tension upon the screen is permanent in all positions thereof, and whereby in order to secure the screen in its extended position the lower edge thereof must be fastened suitably to the bottom of the IOO frame. The object of this is to preserve such a tension upon the screen as to hold it taut, While at the same time capable of yielding when strained. In order to provide for this adjustment of the tension of the spring before applying the roller to the brackets and subsequently preventing` the engagement of the locking -pawls with the ratchets while the screen is in use, I employ the ordinary springactuated shade-rollers having a ratchet 13 and pawls 14, and the bracket in which the angular extremity of the spring-arbor is inserted is provided with an inwardly-projecting collar 15,which extends between the pawls and the ratchet of the spring-roller and thus holds the pawls out of engagement with the ratchet. Thus the tension of the springs of the rollers may be adjusted, as desired, before application to the supporting brackets to avoid difficulty and loss of time in assembling the parts of the apparatus, said springs being held at the adjusted tension by the ordinary means employed for that purpose; but the act of fitting. the extremity of the springarbor into the seat in the bracket causes the disengagement by the collarwof the pawls from the ratchet, whereby in subsequent use the pawls travel idly around the outer surface of the collar on the bracket and expose the screen permanently to the tension of the spring.

To prevent the entrance of insects between the upper side of the roller and the supportingstrip, a flexible guard 16 is secured to the under surface of said supporting-strip and comes in contact at its lower edge with the surface of the screen on the roller. In practice I prefer to employ a plurality of folds or thicknesses of the fabric forming the guard, the lower edges of said folds being free to follow the direction of movement of the roller and bear against the downwardly-movin g side thereof. Inasmuch as the lower edges of the guard are free, they will be carried inwardly or outwardly over the roller, according to the direction of movement thereof.

The lower edge of the screen is finished by a transverse stretcher 17, the extremities of which operate in the guides at opposite sides of the frame, said stretcher being preferably fitted with a handle or knob 18.

Various means for securing the lower end of the screen when the latter is extended may be employed, the means shown in the drawings, Figs. 1 and 2, consisting of eyes 19 on the lower end of the frame for engagement by headed studs 2O on the stretcher.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a different form of fastening device including a hook 2 1,pivotally mounted upon the frame and adapted to swing outwardly and engage a perforation 22 in the stretcher.

The frame 1, which is above described and is shown in the drawings, may be constructed to form a part of the screen device and may be inserted in the window-frame when the screen is mounted or applied to the windowframe, or the screen-roller and guides may be applied directly to the window-frame by the attachment of the supporting-strip and the inner and outer guide-strips. Furthermore, when it is desired to arrange the screen upon the face of the frame instead of within the same the construction of guiding-strip illustrated in Fig. 7 may be employed for the latter.

The construction of screen which I prefer to employ in connection with the above device is partly metal and partly fabric by the employment of intersecting strands of wire and fabric. For instance, the warp may be of wire and the weft of strands formed of cotton or other fabric. This construction provides the necessary strength and durability with a desirable fiexibility adapting the screen for rolling with facility when released at its lower edge.

It will be understood that while the apparatus is shown and described as having the supporting-strip secured to the top of a frame, as the top of a window-frame, it may, when desired, be secured at an intermediate point, whereby the screen is adapted for extension over the lower half of the windowframe or the upper half, as required.

Obviously when the supporting-strip is arranged at an intermediate part of the frame the above described means for detachably securing it in place could not be employed, but other equally simple and efficient devices may be employed in this connection without affecting the essential features of the improvement; and various other changes in the form proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

I'Iaving described my invention, what I claim isl. In a window-screen apparatus, the conibination of a supporting-strip provided with notches, turn-buttons or rotary clips for engagement with said notches to secure the strip to the top of a frame, a spring-actuated roller mounted in brackets depending from the extremities of the supportingstrip, said roller having a screen secured thereto,guides for the lateral edges of the screen, and means for securing the lower end of the screen when extended, substantially as specified.

2. In a window-screen apparatus, the combination of a supporting-strip, means for detachably securing the same to the top of a frame, a spring-actuated roller mounted in brackets depending from the extremities of the supportingstrip, a flexible guard comprising a plurality of layers or strips secured to the under surface of the supporting-strip and arranged with their free lower edges'in contact with the surface of the screen upon the roller, guides for the lateral edges of the screen, and means for securing the same in its extended position, substantially as specified.

8. In a window-screen apparatus, the com- IOO IIO

bination of a supporting-strip and means for securing the same to the top of a frame, brackets depending from the `supportingstrip, one of the brackets being provided with an integral inwardly extending collar, a spring-actuated roller havin gits spring-arbor seated in said bracket Within the collar Whereby the locking-pawls for maintaining the spring at the desired tension are held intheir retracted positions, a screen secured to the roller, guides for the lateral edges of the screen, and means for securing the same in its extended position, substantially as specified.

4E. In a WindoW-screen apparatus, the coinn bination of a supporting-strip provided with terminal depending brackets,means for secur ing the supporting-strip to a frame, a spring- WILLIAM SCOTT. Witnesses: i

ZILLAH' DAVIDSON, VIvIAN DAVIDSON. 

